With the ending of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the still-ongoing sequestration, the current shutdown of the Federal government, and looming budget cuts the military is looking at reducing costs across the board.

The Pentagon's leadership in charge of active-duty soldiers is hoping that many of the cuts in personnel come from the ranks of various National Guard and reserve components.

The first US Air Force Air National Guard unit to fly the new F-35 Lightening II will be the 158th Fighter Wing of the Vermont Air National Guard based at the Burlington Air Guard Station.

The announcement was first made by the Burlington Free Press, based on an email sent by the project manager for F-35 basing studies in late September. It is expected to be confirmed by an environmental impact report released in early October.

After being activated on June 11, the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve C-130s outfitted with the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System and their crews have returned to their home missions, after fighting the forest fires near Yosemite National Park in California.

While taking part in the Tough Ruck 2013, three National Guard servicemen from the 1060th Transportation Company found themselves in the midst of a horrific event. 1st Lt. Steve Fiola, First Sgt. Bernard Madore, and Staff Sgt. Mark Welch were near the end of the 26.2 mile course, which they had been walking with full rucksacks.

To ensure you have the latest information on current eligibility standards, you will need to contact your local recruiter. While much of what you see below doesn't change much, the opportunities for getting a waiver for a disqualifying mark varies depending on what recruiting region you are in and the current state of the economy.

National Guard News Wire

Russian's efforts began in earnest in 2014. By the summer of 2015, hackers believed to be tied to Kremlin intelligence agencies accessed the computer network of the Democratic National Committee. They had access to emails and messages from the party for months, building a cache of documents that would eventually be published by WikiLeaks in July 2016.

The sleek aircraft, really more rocket than plane, dropped from the wing of a B-52 before shooting through the sky. The unmanned X-51A hit Mach 4.8 with help from a solid rocket booster. The the aircraft jettisoned the booster and its scramjet engine took over, sucking in highly-compressed air to propel the vehicle to a hypersonic speed of about 3,400 mph, or Mach 5.1.